When Nik Stauskas first arrived in Philadelphia, people were hype. The entire city gave out a group “IT’S LIT!” in perfect unison.
It seemed as though the Sixers had finally found the dead-eye, sharpshooter they had so sorely needed. They found a floor spacer to compliment their big man heavy offense. Sam Hinkie had pulled off a heist and stole this kid from the stupid, dumb, idiot Sacramento Kings; the Sixers had actually made an exciting move.
But that hype died pretty damn fast.
Nik Stauskas’ first few games in a Sixers’ uniform left a lot to be desired, the early returns on the trade were not too pretty. It took only a few games of Stauskas forcing shots and tossing up bricks for fans to give up on their expectations. Over the course of his first two months, Sauce shot .270 and .290 from three, he averaged 1.6 threes per game in November and only 0.9 in December, and had a seven game stretch where he went scoreless in six contests.
Sauce was playing completely mild, but luckily Ish Smith came along to help spice up his game. Since the Sixers went out and got the closest thing to a starting point guard, Stauskas’ game has been much improved, he’s been damn near caliente. In his first game playing alongside Ish, Sauce went 3-4 from three for 17 points, four rebounds, and two assists in what was easily on of his best games from this season.
As the season has worn on, Stauskas’ game has continued to improve. He’s improved his three point percentage to .409 in January and has been shooting .517 in February. Satuskas has managed to score double digit points in five of his last ten games, including a 17 point outing against the Hawks and a 16 point night against Kings. He’s scoring 15.3 points per 48 minutes on the season and 19.2 over the past month alone.
It’s not just his offensive game that’s improving though, he is starting to become a much more capable defender; Stauskas cites this as the reason for his game’s overall improvement. He says putting a greater focus on defense means he’s thinking less about the offense and just letting it come to him. Sauce does seem to be getting more comfortable on the court, he’s been shooting fewer threes but making them at a higher clip; he’s learned to take smarter shots.
Nik Stauskas’ career has been filled with more bad than good, but he is still only a second year lottery pick, there is time for him to develop. The positives have been small, but they’re still promising, Sauce just needs to keep working on his three and hope the Sixers get legit starting point guard to compliment him. If everything goes right, I think Stauskas has the potential to be a lethal marksman; and at the very least a decent three point shot off the bench.
Oh, and here’s a video of Sauce naming rappers.
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